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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · press · squash · cell · bass · band · prune · rule

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — a law
  3. press — newspapers
  4. bass — low music
  5. band — a ring
  6. rule — government
  7. chest — a box
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. chest — of your body
  12. press — to push
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bass — the fish
  15. band — a music group
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cell — a phone
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com